The Death of A Friend
by I-really-do-bite
Summary: He’d said when they changed her and it was time to leave Forks they would fake her death. That day has finally come. How does Mike react? A collaboration between twilighters-anonymous and I-really-do-bite.
1. Chapter 1

1**The Epic T Rated One-Shot Contest  
Hosted by Daddy's Little Cannibal and Bronzehairedgirl620.**

The rules are as followed:  
1. No lemons.  
2. It must be rated T.  
3. It has to have a line (not an actual character) about a cannibal.  
4. It has to have a line (not an actual character) about a fireman.  
1. No lemons.  
5. Cannon pairings.  
6. It has to be a one-shot, you're allowed to continue it when the contest is over with.  
7. Must copy and paste this to the beginning of every story you enter (you're allowed up to two entries, collaborations are accepted).  
1. No lemons.

**The Death of A Friend**

**Disclaimer:** We do not own Twilight.

**Summary:**He'd said when they changed her and it was time to leave Forks they would fake her death. That day has finally come. How does Mike react?

_**A/N**__**:**__**A collaboration between twilighters-anonymous and I-really-do-bite.**_

"_We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will."  
-Chuck Palahniuk_

_***~*~***_

(MikePOV)

I love college! So many parties, so little time. So many girls! Sure, college would be great, if only there wasn't the school and learning aspect of it. If only there could be more boobs and less math! But, seriously, I really needed to study. Finals were coming up the following week and I hadn't even started studying. I was finally starting to concentrate when my phone rang. I opened the phone and saw that it was my mom. Ugh, if only you could go far enough away for college that your parents could never call you. I swear, they call every second they get, wondering if I'm eating and telling me not to party too much and to get enough sleep. Blah, blah, blah.

I answered the phone, trying to hide my annoyance. "Hello?" My annoyance quickly disappeared when I heard what sounded like my mother crying on the other side of the line.

"Oh! Sweetheart! It's so good to hear your voice!" she sobbed.

"Mom, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" I asked, anxious.

"Oh honey – sob – we got the worst news today! Do you remember Bella Swan?" Do I remember Bella Swan? How could I not remember Bella Swan? I've only been madly in love with her since she came to Forks our junior year!

"Of course I remember Bella. Why? What's wrong? Did something happen?" I now recalled Mom telling me about Bella getting sick a couple weeks ago, some rare South American virus. Mom said she would be fine though, said she would get over it quickly and be back to the old, ungraceful, can't-walk-on-a-flat-stable-surface-without-tripping Bella.

"Well –sob – she didn't get over the virus, like they said she would. – Sob – She's gone honey. She's really gone." She broke down on the last word, falling into another round of hysterics.

Bella was…dead? No. It can't be! Bella couldn't die.

"Mike? Pumpkin? Are you still there?" I faintly heard my mother ask, but I was too gone to notice. I let the phone drop from my hand and crash to the floor. It shattered the moment it hit the ground. I sobbed and grabbed onto my chest, just to keep myself from falling apart. I mourned the loss of my first unrequited love.

***

After missing all my classes for the day, I was finally brought back to the surface by Tyler, my longtime friend and roommate. After calming down a little and explaining to Tyler about Bella, we were on the road and headed towards Forks.

All too soon, we were back in the familiar town of Forks, Washington, where we had spent so much of our young lives. We headed towards the Cullen house for the funeral and visitation. Closed casket ceremony, thank God. I don't think I could bear to see her face, all white and chalky.

By the time we arrived, the place was already packed. I recognized most people from around town or from La Push. It seemed that the kitchen was where all the food was and the living room was where the casket was. Standing by a wall in the dining room, was Angela, Ben, Lauren, and Jessica. Tyler and I made our way over to them.

"Oh, hey guys," Angela said morbidly as she saw us approach.

"Hey" we replied.

"Wow, um…so this is awkward." Lauren said, ever the rude one.

"Lauren, this is a funeral. Do you have to be so rude?" Angela chastised, exasperated.

"What? It's not like she was in a fire and no firefighter could save her so she burned or she was eaten by a cannibal or something violent like that. She got sick. She went easily. It happens. You get over it and move on." Could Lauren be anymore vain and inconsiderate? Probably.

"Well, what if the firefighter was hot and he died trying to save Bella? It would have been a waste of perfectly good man-meat," Jessica said, defending Lauren and proving her own inconsideration.

At that moment, Reverend Weber, Angela's father, took his place behind a podium beside the casket. When everyone had migrated into the living room, Reverend Weber began his speech.

"Dearly, beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the loss of Isabella Marie Cullen. She was only at the young age of eighteen, her life had barely begun. We cannot try to conceive why the lord took her from us. We can only believe that He had bigger plans for her, plans that could not be accomplished here on Earth. Isabella had a timeless soul. She touched everyone she knew deeply. She will be forever remembered...." As Reverend Weber spoke, my mind began to wonder. It wondered to times I had shared with Bella. I remembered a rainy afternoon when we were working at Newton's Outfitters.

_***_

"_Man, I can't believe we're actually graduating in a few days!" I said to Bella as we stocked shelves together_.

"_I know. It feels like it was just yesterday that I started high school back in Arizona. And now we're graduating. It's all going by so fast." Although she was smiling as she said this, the look in her big, expressive eyes told me that she was scared or worried about something. What was it? Was it just graduating and going off into the real world? Or was it something else? "You know, Mike, you've been a really good friend to me these last two years. You didn't just abandon me when I turned into a zombie. You even went to the movies with me!"_

_As she continued to talk, I thought for sure this was the moment, the moment she would finally realize how much better I was for her than Edward Cullen._

"_I'm really, really glad we're friends, Mike." _Swoosh! _My dreams of us finally becoming an "us" flew out the window the second she said the word "friends". But, as she went back to stocking the shelves, I began to think about it a little more. Bella never really showed _any _interest in me. Not even on day one. She had only showed interest in Edward Cullen. Sure, she had showed a bit of interest in that Jacob Black kid, but as I thought about it, I realized the only one she ever really wanted was Edward. _

_I can't believe I'm going to say this, but Edward Cullen has got to be the luckiest man in the history of mankind._

_To have a girl like Bella Swan want only you? He must have done something really good to please the gods so much._

_The more and more I thought about it, the more I realized that Bella Swan wasn't the girl for me. Of course, there were things I loved about her, like the way she smelled, the way she looked at you, the way she had that natural beauty, and the way she lit up a room. But, there were also things I hated about her, like the way she only looked at Edward Cullen, or how she was so clumsy she was almost disabled, every time I was around her, I felt like I always had to be on the lookout to make sure she didn't hurt herself and even then she _still _got hurt! She may not be vain and difficult to please, but she was high maintenance in her own way._

_I think it was at that moment in time that I realized that Bella and I weren't soul-mates at all, just friends. And I was okay with that._

_So, I turned to her and said, "I'm really glad we're friends too, Bella."_

_***_

As I focused back onto the present, I realized that no, Bella and I weren't soul-mates, but that didn't mean that she wasn't still possibly one of the greatest people I've ever met. I think I'm pretty damn lucky just to have been able to call her my friend.

Reverend Weber's speech was coming to a close. The next person to make a speech was Chief Swan, Bella's father. After that it was Bella's mother, a woman I had never before met, but I could now see the resemblance in the mother and daughter. After Mrs. Dywer, other people from around town and La Push made speeches about how Bella had touched their lives in some way or another.

I had never realized how many people thought Bella was as special as I thought she was. After about an hour of speeches and hearing some of the other people's memories of Bella, it was finally time to take the casket, I still couldn't refer to it as Bella's casket, to the Forks Cemetery.

We all followed in a long line of cars to the cemetery, it seemed as if the entire population of Forks was here to remember Bella.

We arrived at the cemetery and all watched as the casket was carried to where it would be buried in the ground. Carrying the casket was Emmett and Edward Cullen — who strangely hadn't let a single tear fall all day — Jasper Hale, Carlisle Cullen, Jacob Black, and Chief Swan.

I looked up at the sky and noticed that, as usual, it was cloudy. At least it wasn't raining, Bella hated the rain. If only it were sunny, something made me feel like Bella deserved to have the sun shining. When I thought this, I realized I would never again see the way Bella looked in the sun, when you could see the red in her hair. Never again would I see the sun's rays reflecting off her luminescent skin, giving her a glow.

We watched in anguished silence as the casket was lowered into the ground. Tears and loud sobs could be heard, coming from who, I didn't know, I was too numb to take notice.

Once the casket was in the ground, people started walking up to the grave to drop in fist-fulls of dirt. When it was finally my turn, I dropped the dirt onto the casket, whispering softly.

"Goodbye, Bella."

*******

**END**

_**In loving memory of Daddy's Little Cannibal, **_

_**Victims of drunk driving, **_

_**And anyone whose life was over before it even began.**_


	2. Voting

1Hey Guys!

Voting is finally starting for the Epic T-Rated Contest. Here's how the process will work:

Round one: June 22nd-26th. All entries will be included here.

Round two: June 29th-July 3rd. The top half (30-40 entries) from the first  
round will be included here.

Round three: July 6th-10th. The top half (20-30 entries) from the second  
round will be included here, and the top three winners will be determined.

The prizes will be either a banner, signature or cover for the 1st, 2nd and  
3rd place winners.

It would be really great if you guys could take just a few minutes out of your life to vote for this one-shot! Thanks! ~ twilighters-anonymous and I-really-do-bite


	3. VotingRound 2

Hey guys! We just wanted to let you know that this story has made it to the second round of voting for the Epic T-Rated Contest held by bronzehairedgirl620 and Daddy's Little Cannibal! We're both really excited. We want to thank everyone who voted for us. Voting for the second round starts on June 29 and ends July 3. You can vote on bronzehairedgirl620's profile. It's really easy. Seriously! It only takes 2 seconds, depending on how slow your computer is. Just vote! We would be very grateful! Thanks!

~*~ twilighters-anonymous and I-really-do-bite ~*~


End file.
